The Study Of American Antitrust In The Progressive Era

At the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century,the combination of mass production and mass distribution changed the traditional business model of the United States,the rise of large cities and the increase of population,and the United States began to transform from a decentralized agricultural economy to a rapidly expanding industrial country.Driven by technological innovation and organizational management innovation,single family enterprises and local small and medium-sized enterprises began to merge into large companies at the end of the 19 th century,becoming the main organizational form in The Economic life of the United States.The formation of monopoly organization is the result that the big enterprises monopolize the market and restrain the competition.Monopolistic behavior has a negative impact on American society.For example,in politics,the big capital forces derived from monopolistic organizations influence government legislation,manipulate elections,and participate in the distribution of spoils by political parties.In economy,monopolistic giants control the market,manipulate the price of products and monopolize the distribution of resources.Driven by public opinion,the US government launched anti-monopoly policies to promote and maintain competition in the economic field.In 1889,eight states drafted anti-trust legislation.The state’s early antitrust legislation provides a legal basis for the local court to punish monopoly behavior,and also lays the foundation for the federal government’s antitrust legislation.Later,the Federal government issued "Interstate Commerce Act","Sherman Act","Federal Trade Commission Act" and "Clayton Act",from then on,a rich and perfect anti-trust legal system framework was established,which laid the policy foundation of anti-monopoly in the United States and created the precedent of anti-monopoly legislation.Antitrust in the progressive era was multi-layered.The so-called multi-level refers to the state level and the federal level.The two levels influence and promote each other,and together constitute the anti-monopoly in the late 19 th century and early 20 th century.The anti-monopoly in the period of progressism is not only restraining monopoly behavior,but also an effective attempt of bourgeois state power to intervene in economic life by legal means.Meanwhile,it provides an opportunity for the federal government to deal with the relationship between the government and the market.It also promotes cooperation between enterprises,and cooperation between enterprises and government.